Farhan Zaidi charts bold new course for Giants: ‘Everything has got to be on the table’

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San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer (left) introduces Farhan Zaidi as the team’s new president of baseball operations during a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer (right) leads Farhan Zaidi (center) and Brian Sabean into a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. Zaidi was introduced as the team’s new president of baseball operations. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: Brian Sabean watches as the San Francisco Giants introduce Farhan Zaidi as the team’s new president of baseball operations during a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. Sabean has been acting as the team’s vice president of baseball operations after serving as the Giants general manager for 18 seasons. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer (left) introduces Farhan Zaidi as the team’s new president of baseball operations during a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer (left) introduces Farhan Zaidi as the team’s new president of baseball operations during a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: Farhan Zaidi is introduced as the San Francisco Giants new president of baseball operations during a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

The Giants are set to announce Farhan Zaidi as their new president of baseball operations Wednesday, November 7 at AT&T Park. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

San Francisco, CA – NOVEMBER 07: Farhan Zaidi is introduced as the San Francisco Giants new president of baseball operations during a news conference, Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland A’s executive Farhan Zaidi was promoted to Assistant General Manager/Director of Baseball Operations. After a stint for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he is now the San Francisco Giants’ new president of baseball operations. (File photo)

But the San Francisco Giants’ new president of baseball operations revealed Wednesday that his ultimate goal is to make Bay Area traffic worse.

“Seeing the three Giants parades on the local news and hearing my friends complain about how it was messing up their commutes, I have first-hand experience with those,” Zaidi said. “That’s the goal, I hope we’re messing up people’s commutes with parades very soon.”

The last time the Giants marched down Market Street, Zaidi was a wunderkind assistant general manager and one of the most valuable front office assets for the Oakland A’s. Four years after accepting a job as the Los Angeles Dodgers general manager, Zaidi is back in Northern California on extraordinarily different terms.

After agreeing to a five-year contract Tuesday to serve as the Giants’ highest-ranking front office executive, Zaidi is tasked with charting the course for the future of a franchise in need of a talented, precise captain.

Make no mistake, this is Zaidi’s ship to steer.

“There certainly hasn’t been any talk about restrictions or limitations in terms of doing what we think is right,” Zaidi said.

During Zaidi’s introductory press conference at AT&T Park Wednesday, Giants CEO Larry Baer took to the podium alongside his newest hire and devoted his opening remarks to acknowledging the service of Brian Sabean.

The primary architect of Giants clubs from 1997-2014, Sabean took a step back from his day-to-day role as general manager following the team’s third world championship under his watch. However, as executive vice president of baseball operations, he sat atop the organizational hierarchy in 2018.

The Zaidi era has officially begun and that is no longer the case.

“I think it’s going to be really clear, there’s not a shared responsibility, (Zaidi) is the accountable one,” Baer said. “But Brian has so much institutional knowledge, he’s available for advice and strategies, knows the organization. There’s huge value in that.”

What will the Zaidi regime look like?

If his first day on the job is any indication, the Giants’ front office will be open for business and open to innovation around the clock.

After initially blocking out two hours to interview Zaidi Friday, Baer said the duo enjoyed a “transformational” discussion that lasted more than six. Zaidi completed a second interview Sunday, met with additional members of the organization Monday and accepted a job offer Tuesday.

He’s already talked shop with manager Bruce Bochy, discussed organizational philosophies with Sabean and discussed potential general manager candidates with Baer. After meeting with the press Wednesday, Zaidi was hopping aboard a plane to catch the final hours of Major League Baseball’s general manager meetings in Carlsbad.

Zaidi is already running at full speed, but that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He clearly understands how much ground the Giants have to make up.

Neither Zaidi nor Baer plan to oversee a full-scale rebuild. But neither executive is ready to express an expectation to contend as soon as next season.

“I just think with where we are as an organization right now, we have to cast as wide of a net as possible and not put too many labels on what this process is going to be other than to make smart and sound decisions,” Zaidi said.

Instead of concocting a plan to put forth a playoff-caliber squad right away, Zaidi will assess the roster’s strengths and weaknesses and steadily work to add value.

In Los Angeles, his acquisitions of talents like Max Muncy and Matt Kemp helped lay the groundwork for a pennant winner. In San Francisco, his approach to building depth won’t change.

“No move is too small to not be worth a certain level of effort and detail,” Zaidi said.

Though acquiring talent for the middle and back end of a roster is a skill Zaidi has displayed in both Oakland and Los Angeles, his résumé is somewhat lacking in the superstar department. During a four-year tenure with the Dodgers, Zaidi never inked a player to a contract worth at least $100 million.

In his first winter with the Giants, he could recognize the value in building around a generational player like free agent outfielder Bryce Harper. The franchise has the resources and all that Baer has asked is that Zaidi takes a pragmatic approach to adjusting the roster.

“We need to accumulate more talent throughout the system and there’s an art with how to do that,” Baer said.

While the Giants aren’t shredding their foundation, Zaidi and Baer have accepted that the roster’s core must change. No move is off limits, even a trade that might force San Francisco to part ways with ace Madison Bumgarner.

“He’s been a seminal pillar of this franchise for a long time and that carries a lot of weight,” Zaidi said. “At the same time, this is kind of day one for me. I’m eager to get opinions from a wide range of people on what makes sense in terms of a broader direction. I think with where we are everything has got to be on the table in terms of how we move this team and roster forward.”

If everything is on the table, nothing is sacred.

It’s the reality the Giants chose to accept in hiring Zaidi and the new, bold way they must consider their future. Allegiances to stars like Bumgarner and Buster Posey will still exist, and the legacy the franchise has worked so diligently to cultivate will remain.

But Wednesday’s press conference represented a changing of the guard. The new guard means a new way of doing business.

As Zaidi proved by flying south to Carlsbad, that business has already begun.

Kerry Crowley is a multimedia beat reporter covering the San Francisco Giants. He spent his early days throwing curveballs in San Francisco’s youth leagues before studying journalism at Arizona State University. Kerry has covered every level of baseball, from local preps to the Cape Cod League, and is now on a quest to determine which Major League city serves the best cheeseburger.